Irrespective of the reported assassination attack on him, weekend, embattled deputy governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu, yesterday, vowed to proceed with his campaign to succeed Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
The governor has, however, described the assassination attack as a lie, saying that the gun shots fired at Odubu’s campaign event were orchestrated by the deputy governor’s supporters.
The conflicting claims came as fellow All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship aspirants, Mr. Kenneth Imasuagbon, Dr. Pedro Obaseki, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and Engr. Chris Ogienwonyi, expressed outrage over the incident.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the party in Etsako West, Alhaji Abubakar Akokia, corroborated Oshiomhole’s account that the attack on the deputy governor was marshalled by Odubu’s supporters, just as the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Chris Ezike, told journalists, yesterday, that some names had been mentioned and that he had given a marching order to his men to go after the people and arrest them.
He insisted that the perpetrators of the attack would be brought to book and advised all governorship aspirants to go about their campaigns peacefully, adding that Edo 2016 will be very peaceful.
PDP reacts On its part, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, has called on the various security agencies in the state to urgently investigate the assassination attempt on Odubu and bring the perpetrators to book.
It will be recalled that a policeman, an operative of the Department of State Services, DSS, and six others were injured during the attack on the APC secretariat in Auchi, during the deputy governor’s visit to the area, the home base of the governor.
Director of Strategy, Research and Planning of the Odubu Campaign Organisation, Mr. Samson Osagie, who briefed newsmen in the presence of Odubu, yesterday, in Benin on what transpired during the attack, said the national headquarters of the party must urgently intervene to save the party from sliding into total crisis.
He said: “We thank God that our deputy governor was not hit by bullets as it was obvious that the attack was orchestrated directly at his person and geared towards disrupting the aims of the campaign.
For us in Odubu Campaign Organisation, we believe that this act of cowardice being perpetrated by those who dread a free, fair and credible democratic contest is another attempt to intimidate, harass and put pressure on the deputy governor to quit the governorship race or be eliminated.
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